In human medicine materials are used to a great extent, for example, to embed endoprostheses or as polymerizing tooth filling materials, which represent low-molecular organic compounds and which polymerize into solid products after being introduced into the human body. Frequently, inorganic additive components are also added to the organic substances, so that composite materials result which, however, do not undergo any chemical bonding among each other. These materials have the disadvantage that in the first minutes after introduction into the body, nonreactive monomers can be transported away by the blood and can accumulate in certain organs of the body. Furthermore, during the process of the polymerization, inevitably, nonreacting monomers or oligomers remain in the hardened material and thus remain in the body, because it is not possible to carry out purifying operations, such as multi-step extraction reactions and precipitation reactions as are carried out in organic chemistry. Consequently, for example, according to Schultz, Arch. Orthop. Unfall-Chir., 21 1971, 301-305, in the case of utilization of bone cement, based on methyl methacrylate, in addition to a decrease in blood pressure, there occur, above all, life-threatening immediate complications due to fat embolisms. Furthermore, according to T. Okano, Polym. Journal, 10, 233 (1987), proteins are adsorbed on the hydrophilic structural units of the hardened materials which, according to M. Suzuki, J. Biomed. Mat. Res. 15, 697 (1981) can cause side-effects as serious as the formation of blood clots. Generally, similar reactions which cause physically damaging processes and which, therefore, do not assure the required high biocompatibility, can be expected of all organic or inorganic-organic substances based on low-molecular compounds and/or consisting of elements other than C, H, O.
This is the case, for example, in DE-OS 2,821,354. For instance, with some of the polymers mentioned in the above-mentioned Offenlegungsschrift, such as polyurethanes, polyamides or epoxy resins as biomaterials, there can result damaging influences on the biological medium because of unreacted isocyanate groups or oligomers formed.
In addition to the possible reactions of isocyanate groups with the body fluids, the body tissues, blood cells or individual proteins, from the polyurethanes, by means of hydrolysis, there result metabolites containing amino groups which, for example, in the case of the aromatic diamines, represent potential carcinogens. According to N. A. Mohamud, Physicochem. Aspects of Polymer Surfaces, Vol. 2, page 953, Plenum Press, New York, London, 1983, the oligomers are also capable of slowly diffusing on the surface of the material and can cause undesirable blood reactions. For extra-corporal applications, but also for polyurethane-based container material intended for implants, expensive extraction methods as well as surface modifications of the material are used. With increasing viscosity in the hardening process, due to the accompanying diffusion, there inherently remain in macromolecules unreacted functional groups which, in the course of time, due to diffusing-in of water or ions, react out of the liquor and free low-molecular substances having amido bonds or amine bonds. Nonwithstanding their potential toxicity, especially because of the strong basicity of amines and diamines, blood clotting is particularly furthered. For the same reason, amines should not be used as hardening components, for example, for epoxy resins because in case of long-term exposure, the hydrolytic or enzymatic break-down of such compounds cannot be ruled out and implies potential dangers.